Experienced Electrician! Here to Answer Any and All Growroom Electrical Questions
- Thread starter bricktown73
- Start date
purplehazin
Well-Known Member
Thanks man, appreciate it. Puts my mind at ease a bit 
BigBudBalls
Well-Known Member
Orange means nothing. The final OD means nothing of the extension cords. Its all in the gauge of the wire in the cord. (granted a higher temp insulation can make up for lack of gauge, but NEC will probably frown on it, even though its valid)
Get a cord rated for 15A, even though you are only running 8A. Lengths play a part in these things with voltage drop.
Have fun with the closet grows. Heat is a major issue. Get that all proven out before starting to grow.
purplehazin
Well-Known Member
Thanks BBB, I built my own cooltube and have a 400cfm fan for a 3x2x5 closet, so heat isnt a big problem. Thanks for the cord tip, I'll see if I can find an amperage rating on the cord I have. If not I'll stop by home depot and pick up a short 15A cord. Thanks again 
if im setting up a room in my house, running 2 600w lights, fans, hydro bullshit, and a/c, what would be the best way to power it all? currently i know diddly squat about anything electrical, but im hoping this will be the start of my learning process. anyhow, if yall wouldnt mind givin me some pointers, or pointin me in a direction, any direction really, i'd be much obliged.
love, peace, and taco grease,
-imo
love, peace, and taco grease,
-imo
jumboSWISHER
Well-Known Member
heyy everybody.
so i was just in the grow room, and i found out the hard way that if im barefoot, and stick my hand into the res of my hydro setup i get a pretty good jolt... not real bad, but a good, shocking jolt lol
and my first thought is this cant be good for my plants? and cant be safe haha
well after tinkering around i found it be my ballast. when i unplug it theres no jolt. its near my res, but no wires touching or anything?
could it just be the cement floor or something? i have no electrical experience what so ever. and ill have pics ina few.
thanks a ton for any thoughts
so i was just in the grow room, and i found out the hard way that if im barefoot, and stick my hand into the res of my hydro setup i get a pretty good jolt... not real bad, but a good, shocking jolt lol
and my first thought is this cant be good for my plants? and cant be safe haha
well after tinkering around i found it be my ballast. when i unplug it theres no jolt. its near my res, but no wires touching or anything?
could it just be the cement floor or something? i have no electrical experience what so ever. and ill have pics ina few.
thanks a ton for any thoughts
Smokej9009
Active Member
Sounds like you need a pond liner for the floor, and there must be a short inside the ballast? More enlightened minds will prevail.
Are both plugged into the same outlet?
jumboSWISHER
Well-Known Member
i feel really dumb... they were plugged into the same outlet 
its all good now haha
its all good now haha
Smokej9009
Active Member
There is still something wrong there. Don't assume it's all good. You must have a damaged wire or loose connection somewhere. Unplug the ballast and look inside, then trip the breaker for that outlet and look for damaged wires or loose connections behind the receptacle.i feel really dumb... they were plugged into the same outlet
its all good now haha
These are the little things that can kill you or burn your house down. Believe me, you don't want to put the power from a ballast through your arm.
I'm sure a more experienced electrician will chime in, but I would start with those two things first.
Your using a grounded outlet right?
Remember this tidbit!!!
If you EVER touch anything electrical, alway touch it with the back of your hand first. This will prevent and current travelling through it's case from making you involuntarily clamp your hand onto whatever is shocking you. If you touch it with the back of your hand first, your reflex reaction will not let you grab onto it and hold on.
Don't ever grab your ballast with your grip UNTIL you have placed the back of your hand on it first to verify it is not gonna zap you.
This simple tidbit actually in all reality probably saved my life one day many years ago on a power cable that supplied a massive motor.
jumboSWISHER
Well-Known Member
i had my dad take a look at things =] i didnt just assume its all good lol
and yes im using a grounded outlet, i had the ballast plugged in, and a cheap 6 way plug with the pump and air stone plugged in. we moved the 6 way and it stopped, my dad tripped the breaker and checked it all out, he says its A ok. i trust his judgment as he has electician experience, and has given me the same advice of touching it with the back of your had first lol , saved my life, or atleast a shitty week at the hospital. thanks alot tho man! =]
and yes im using a grounded outlet, i had the ballast plugged in, and a cheap 6 way plug with the pump and air stone plugged in. we moved the 6 way and it stopped, my dad tripped the breaker and checked it all out, he says its A ok. i trust his judgment as he has electician experience, and has given me the same advice of touching it with the back of your had first lol , saved my life, or atleast a shitty week at the hospital. thanks alot tho man! =]
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
you fail for suggesting a pond liner... that could get him killed.
IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
what that was is either a) ungrounded ballast core. or b) you have a neutral and a ground tied together or touching somewhere.
there is also a third possibility-
c) ungrounded mag drive pumps will also induct voltage into water. though normally safe, if you are a better ground than the neutral (highly likely if your standing barefoot on a wet tile floor) there is a chance you could get bit if you come into contact with the fluid the pump is circulating. this is a phenomena i first noticed years ago playing around with aquariums. some electricians use what is known as a hotstick, or more properly, a non contact voltage indicator. this handy pen sized contraption lights up bright red when it gets close to voltage greater than 24vac, i used to have a habit of clipping it onto the string for my hood on a sweatshirt, and one day i was leaning close to my aquarium and the hotstick lit up, i was like wtf? it drove me nuts till i figured out what was going on.
FYI- any receptacle within six foot of any water source, water resevoir, sink, faucet, drain, or any source of moving water SHALL be a GFCI type receptacle.
its the law for a reason. it takes only 1 milliamp to kill you... a gfci trips @ .015 ma of fault current.
consider yourself lucky when you got bit the current didnt travel across your chest and cause a defibrillation, killing you instantly. your lucky your arms were not over your head when it happened... you dont know how close you just came.
im not trying to be a downer, bu ti think you should be made aware of it
peace
Mr.Greenery850
Member
Amazing thread brick!! Im sure ill have sum questions for ya man.
PeAcE
PeAcE
BigBudBalls
Well-Known Member
Ignore them. Unless you think a 600W HPS can be seen as a 600W HPS grow light with White Widow below it. It just gathers usage over time and more importantly to the elec co, can read them from far away saving the labor of sending a guy to every house every month. Balance your load over the 24 hour period.what can we do about the new smart meters? anyway around it? hack?
Smoke a bowl, relax and stop being paranoid.
for peace of mind buy a digital ballast then you will have no inductance and a smaller surge. hack smart meters is gonna the way of the future(when there is a will there is a way). Info is actually sent down the power lines not a data port. Its some heavy shit
BigBudBalls
Well-Known Member
ohms law. its all over this thread
legalizeitcanada
Well-Known Member
Hey, i do have a question, I saw a little cooler ac unit, it runs offa 12v from the car lighter, what would I have to do to get it to plug into a regular socket 120v? Thanks Dude